It's been a while since we have posted news from the community in Plovdiv but we are doing quite well and energetically trying to answer any number of challenges.

The first challenge deals with our presence and contribution to the Near Eastern Mission ('Mission d'Orient'). At the time of the canonical visit of the Superior General, Fr. Benoit Griere, and one of his assistants, Fr. Marcelo Marciel, from March 30 to April 3, it become clear to us that in the near future we cannot count on, as we had hoped for, the presence of another Assumptionist.

Our other wish, which we have proposed over and over again, was that the community might be recognized as a formation center in the Byzantine rite and in Eastern spirituality.

By Archbishop Charles J. Chaput 
Philadelphia, June 18, 2015 (ZENIT.org)

The First World War lingers in the memory as humanity's first encounter with industrialized killing on a mass scale. New weapons of the machine age obliterated forests, villages and fields - an entire way of life. This new type of war also deeply shaped the thinking of men who experienced it firsthand. Among them were J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, two of the greatest Christian writers of the last century.

Generations have delighted in Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings,and Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia and Space Trilogy. But what people often miss in the work of both men is their profound - and deeply Christian - love of nature and its creatures, and their equally deep distrust of man's temptation to dominate and abuse; to treat creation as dead matter available for exploitation.

That word "creation" is a key to understanding both writers. For both Tolkien and Lewis, all life and all creation are gifts of a loving God. Neither man disputed the good in modern technology, but they saw clearly that the world is a kind of sacrament, alive with a beauty that points to its Creator. We don't "own" the earth or its creatures. We have dominion over the world only as its stewards, not as its sovereigns. And as stewards, we have the duty to respect the created order and husband it for the common good.

Earlier today, June 18, 2015, Pope Francis released his latest encyclical, Laudato Si (in English, "Praise be to you, Lord"). By its nature, Laudato Si is a serious teaching document, not a form of story-telling. But its purpose is rooted in the same concerns shared by the two great authors. Both writers would know that the title is taken from Francis of Assisi's great prayer, "Canticle of the Sun."

June 11, 2015 Democratic Republic of the Congo

Rev. Thierry Kahongya, the vicar provincial of Africa, officially inaugurated the first building of the Mirador campus of ISEAB, Institut Supérieur Emmanuel d'Alzon de Butembo (Emmanuel d'Alzon Institute of Higher Education). Remember that the first stone was laid on September 14, 2012 by Br. Didier Remiot, the general treasurer. Today we are reaping what we sowed. You may be aware that this endeavor represents the work of many parties; even the school's students contributed to its completion by their volunteer manual labor, especially at the time that concrete had to be poured in March 2014. This is rarely, if ever, seen at other institutions of higher education and shows that ISEAB is not only an academic institution but it's also a spirit that has taken root in our students who have fully identified with 'their' school. As Fr. d'Alzon desired, we are educating the whole person in our students who know how to give of themselves for the good of their fellow men by contributing to a work that extends the Kingdom of God.

MBA ECT- Assumption Program
THIRD ANNUAL 3-WEEK STUDY TRIP TO ITALY (Rome, Florence & Milan/Como)

MBA 727 – Doing Business in Europe & Italy (3 credits)